Wait, Buicks Are Cool Again?
I remember seeing this svelte crossover for the first time on the road earlier in the year. I was curious about its looks–clean yet interesting, a hatchback with just the right dose of style and a coupe-like roofline to set it apart from the majority of Dove soap bar-shaped crossovers on the road. Then I saw the badge. It was Buick’s signature tri-shield, but it was cleaner, more modern. To the left of the badge on the rear, the name of the car: Envista. And I thought, “Since when did Buicks become cool?”
It turns out that Buick, once the preferred brand of the retiree set, has been brewing an overhaul for some time now. It started with a drawing, as things do. In 2018, a sketch from a member of the Buick design team caught the attention of Bob Boniface, Buick’s Global Design Director since 2016, who led the charge on the development of the fifth generation Camaro, helping to revive that nameplate, as well as the Chevy Volt. The ideas in the sketch were turned into a clay model. When General Motors’ senior vice president of global design, Michael Simcoe saw it in the flesh, what was meant to be an internal design study progressed into what would become the Wildcat EV concept, one of the most surprising concept cars of the past few years. The more you walk around it, the more you see how differently its sculpted surfaces capture light. It had a certain Buick-ness, but this was definitely not your grandfather's LeSabre. The Wildcat EV is what defines Buick’s new design language, and it's a lot of this verve that found itself into the Envista that initially caught my eye.
I decided to head to GM’s new Design West building, which houses Buick’s brand studio (as well as Chevrolet, GMC and Cadillac) to get more of a deep dive into what was happening at what was considered the dustiest brand at GM. This massive new space expands on the original Eero Saarinen designed buildings of what is considered to be America’s first corporate campus. Around 40 art installations by current and former employees can be found throughout the space. On the second floor is the Buick Y-Job from 1938, what is considered the industry's very first concept car. It’s a reminder that Buick was once the most innovative brand at General Motors.
The design studios themselves are several hundred yards long, humans working alongside machines milling and sculpting life-size clay models. Even with all of these automated machines, so much of the design process, the actual sculpting of the clay, the shape of the vehicle, is still done by hand. All of this adds a depth and soul to the project that a computer simply can’t.
That really comes out when you see the Wildcat EV concept, the Envista and the rest of the Buick lineup in person. It’s less defined by lines and creases and angles and more by surface and form. “This is more difficult to do,” Boniface says, as he walks us through Buick’s new lineup inside the Dome, a kind of space-age Parthenon on the campus, where all cars go through a final design approval. “Because treating the form to catch light in a certain way and to manage the visual mass can be more difficult than just applying creases.”
It’s this human touch that comes out in the new Envista as well. It’s obvious that design is at the core of the brand. What is that brand exactly? Some call it near-luxury. You could call it distinguished mass market. Buick calls it “premium.” The result is it works. In 2023, Buick grew around 60% year over year. 70% of Buick buyers are new to the brand. And the Envista owner is the youngest in all of GM's portfolio.
GM President Mark Reuss has a personal connection to the brand. He started his career at GM as a transmission calibrator for Buick in the Flint Michigan plant. His father used to be the general manager of Buick back in the day as well. “One of the best times of my career was working as chief engineer on a few different Buicks,” recalls Reuss. “The Riviera, the Aurora, the 97 Park Avenue, LeSabres—I did it all. I have a big place in my heart for Buick and I’m really excited about what the brand is becoming again.” In a few months Buick will have one of the freshest lineups in the car industry including the brand new three-row Enclave.
When I finally got to drive the Envista, the Buick that originally caught my eye, I could see the appeal. The pricing is super competitive; it starts at $23,495. The top of the line Avenir trim level is $29,695, but it has the refinement and quietness of a car that could be about $10K more. It has a 3 cylinder engine that only puts out 136 horsepower. For city driving, it's more than adequate. It doesn't suffer from a whininess that some smaller engines in this segment can sometimes have. The backseat is ample for a car this size and the cargo space is adequate for a medium sized Costco runs. Parking in the city is super easy. Are there faster cars out there in this segment? Most definitely. Will you find a quieter, more comfortable ride with sharp, shark-like looks at this price though? The Mazda CX-30 comes the closest, but the Envista just might be the better value and has definitely has the more robust, modern infotainment system.
Buick is GM’s best selling nameplate in China since being the preferred car of Pu Yi, the last emperor of China. For a while, it felt like Buick existed purely for an overseas marketplace. But spend some time in the Envista and you’ll most likely agree that Buick has a place in the U.S. of A. too.
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